Time analysis of fatal traffic accidents in Fars Province of Iran / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the time factor in road traffic accidents (RTAs) in Fars Province of Iran.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This study was conducted in Fars Province, Iran from November 22, 2009 to November 21, 2011. Victims'information consisted of age, sex, death toll involving dri- vers or passengers of cars, motorcycles and pedestrians, and site of injury etc. Accidents were analyzed in relation to hour of the day, season of the year, lighting condition including sunrise, sunset, daytime and nighttime.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 3 642 deaths (78.3% were males, and the ratio of males to females was about 3.6:1) were studied regarding their autopsy records. There was a steady increase in fatal accidents occurring at midnight to 15:59. The risk of being involved in a fatal traffic accident was higher for those injured between 4:00 to 7:59 than at other times (OR equal to 2.13, 95% CI 1.85-2.44). The greatest number of fatal RTAs took place in summer. Mortalities due to RTA during spring and summer were more pronounced at 20:00 to 23:59 and midnight to 3:59, whereas mortalities in fall and winter were more pronounced from 12:00 to 15:59.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The high mortality rate of RTA is a major public health problem in Fars Province. Our results indicate that the time is an important factor which contributes to road traffic deaths.</p>

Report on first Iranian international conference on women's health held June 14-15, 2012 in Shiraz, Iran

Women's health is increasing identified as a global health priority. Women's health is affected by many factors, such as the economy, environment, society, culture, religion, and biology. For this reason, the Health Policy Research Center, Shiraz, Iran decided to hold The First Iranian International Conference on Women's Health. The aim of this conference was to provide up-to-date information on different aspects of women's health, including healthy aging, non-communicable and communicable diseases, psycho-social aspects, health promotion, reproductive health, and nutrition. Finally, the attending specialists and experts provided recommendations to be put into practice which reinforced the recommendations for additional clinical preventive services for women, mobilizing health professionals within practice, education, and research to address the national health goals, encouraging the adoption of ongoing evidence-based prevention guidelines, gender-sensitive, and culturally appropriate, persuading all stakeholders to harmonize their endeavors on women's health, changing the viewpoint to the women as a workforce alliance as with like men, along with considering the major role of women as the basis of the family, and improving the coverage, accessibility, and quality of women-oriented health services

Fatal motorcycle accidents in Fars Province, Iran: a community-based survey / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To identify the main characteristics of victims of motorcycle accidents in Fars Province, Iran.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This cross-sectional study was conducted in Fars Province which has the fourth largest population of all 31 provinces in Iran from March 2009 to June 2010. We included data from all 542 recorded cases of fatalities due to motor vehicle accidents. Data were recorded from the forensic medicine registry consisting of demographic and accident-related information. Demographic information consisted of name, age, sex, status of fatal victim (motorcycle driver vs passenger) and educational level.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 2 345 autopsy records from the forensic medicine archives, 542 (23.1%) gave the cause of death as motor vehicle accidents. Mean age of these victims was (31.4+/-6.5) years, and the male to female ratio was 28. Head injury was the most common cause of death in these victims, and overall they tended to have a low level of education. Motorcycle accidents frequently involved younger age groups (15-35 years), and head trauma related with non-use of a helmet was the most common cause of death.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Head injury is frequent among victims in the province we studied. This situation may be related to the victims' low socioeconomic status and little education regarding traffic laws leading to speeding and disregard of these laws along with their weak enforcement.</p>

Epidemiological characteristics of fatal pedestrian accidents in Fars Province of Iran: a community-based survey / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the epidemiological characteristics of fatal pedestrian accidents in Fars Province of Iran.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This cross-sectional study was conducted in Fars Province of Iran during a 29-month period from March 2009 to July 2011. The data were from the Fars Forensic Medicine Registry. In 4 923 recorded road traffic accident fatalities, 971 deaths were due to pedestrian accidents. The demographic and accident-related information were analyzed by SPSS version 11.5. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean age of decedents was (47.2+/-26.2) years, ranging from 6 months to 103 years old. Males accounted for 69.8% of all deaths. Fatal accidents were most common in September; 56.1% of the fatal injuries occurred on intracity roads and 33.1% on extracity roads. Fatal head injuries were present in 60.54% of cases. Evaluation of the injury site and the cause of death found that they were significantly associated with age, interval between injury and death. Besides, the type of roads played an important role in mortality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Although the clinical management of trauma patients has been improved in our country in the recent decade, decreasing the burden of injuries needs coordination among trauma system organizations.</p>

prevalence of high blood pressure and its relationship with anthropometric indicators; a population based study in pars province, IR Iran

The burden of non-communicable diseases is rising globally. The present study was carried out to examine the relationship between different anthropometric indices and blood pressure in the Iranian population. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 3916 subjects including 1976 males and 1940 females, aged 15-64 years from a healthy population in Shiraz, IR Iran. Anthropometric variables of each person including weight, height, waist circumference [WC], waist to height ratio [WHR] and body mass index [BMI] were calculated along with measuring systolic and diastolic blood pressures [BP]. The relationship between blood pressure and different anthropometric variables was determined in both genders. The mean +/- SD systolic blood pressures were 123.9 +/- 20.0 and 121.2 +/- 17.7 mmHg while the mean diastolic blood pressures were 78.3 +/- 11.9 and 77.4 +/- 12.9 mmHg in men and women respectively [P<0.001]. The prevalence of hypertension in men [23.8%] was significantly more than that of women [21.1%]. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures increased with age and BMI in both genders. Anthropometric indices showed a positive association with systolic and diastolic blood pressures. The BMI and WC showed a strong association with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The suggested lower cut-off values of the anthropometric indicators will cover maximum of the population with higher odds of having hypertension and may help reduce the levels of populations mean blood pressure

Comparison of twin pregnancy outcome after assisted reproductive technology with and without embryo reduction

Spontaneous occurrences of multifetal pregnancies always have been a medical problem. The risks of perinatal morbidity and mortality and maternal morbidity increase with enhancement of the number of fetuses. In our prospective experimental study, the outcome of twin pregnancy after Assisted Reproductive Technologies [ART] with and without Multifetal Pregnancy Reduction [MFPR] is compared relating to perinatal and maternal complications. The aim of this study was to compare the gestational age at delivery, birth weight, and other complications of surviving twins following MFPR to those in a control group of non-reduced twins. In this prospective experimental study, from infertile couples who were referred to Isfahan Fertility- Infertility Center [IFIC] and were candidate for ART [Invitro Fertilization or Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection], 30 couples who have had twin [control group] and 35 couples with quadruplet or higher order pregnancies [experimental group] were selected. In cases with experimental group MFPR was done, and pregnancy outcome-miscarriage, premature labor, Premature Preterm Rupture of Membranes [PPROM] and Pregnancy Induced Hypertension [PIH]-were compared between two groups. Distribution of complications in experimental vs. control groups was as follows: miscarriage: 23.3 vs. 16 .7%, premature labor: 15.7% vs. 13.3%, pregnancy induced hypertension: 13.3% vs. 16.7%, abruption: 6.7% vs. 6.7%, and premature preterm rupture of membranes: 23.3% vs. 26.7%. Mean neonatal weight at birth [2239 vs. 2240 gr] and mean gestational age at delivery [33.5 vs. 34.1 w] were similar. The differences between two groups were not statistically significant [P>0.05]. MFPR during early pregnancy is a safe, effective and simple operative for the purpose of reducing perinatal and maternal complications